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His Excellency Dr. Tawfiq AL-RABIAH, Minister of Health and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the General Organization of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH-RC), reiterated that human health is a priority in all countries. He reaffirmed that the Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia endeavors via the vast and widespread outreach of its health centers and hospitals to work hard for the delivery of the best health service to Saudis and to achieve health security for the Saudi citizen so that he can undertake his duties and roles.   

In his speech during the inauguration of the “International Medical Symposium on Health and Wellbeing” organized by KFSH-RC in Riyadh under the slogan “Your Health is Your Wealth”, Dr. ALRABIAH pointed out that at the beginning of the new Hegira year, within the framework of the Saudi Leadership’s comprehensive vision aiming at building the future of our country and based on the Saudi Leadership’s keenness on the health and safety of citizens, health services have received utmost attention, care and follow-up by the Saudi Leaders, May Allah the Almighty Safeguard them, just as it is the case with all other services.    

“This has reflected positively on the implementation of the plans and programs of Health Ministry aimed at improving the performance, enhancing the service rendered to patients and upgrading the caliber of health professionals as well as those working in the field of health, control of diseases and early detection thereof”, Dr. ALRABIAH said.

On his part, His Excellency Dr. Qasim Al Qasabi the Chief Executive Officer of King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre stated that the conference targeting the health professionals and organized in cooperation with the “European Lifestyle Medicine Organization” aims at focusing on the most widespread contemporary diseases and their direct impact on the community and the health professionals by means of diverse activities and special workshops.

He further indicated that health professionals, in view of the nature/pattern of their work and the structure of their jobs, might be most affected by diseases including the diseases resultant from long working hours or from stress and work pressures. He added that such diseases and stress would lead to inability to strike a balance between professional and personal life with the subsequent harmful health impacts and burnouts resultant from the lack of such balance. It is noteworthy that such health impacts may be mitigated by adopting a proper health approach, Dr. AL- Qasabi said.  Speaking about successful examples and models in this respect, he confirmed that recent /modern research has shown that concentration on early detection and changing of lifestyle may lead to the mitigation of the impacts of diabetes, hypertension, and pressure at work. This would result in the improvement of the quality of work and the increase of employee and customer satisfaction, he went on.      

Dr. Qasabi voiced hope that participants in the Symposium would be successful in increasing the health professional’s awareness on the best ways of protection against the diseases of modern life and adoption of a healthier lifestyle. He expressed hope that this would cover the health community in particular and the society in general.

Meanwhile, Dr. Hisham Alomran, Consultant, Pediatric Emergency Medicine, and Head of the Organizing Committee at KFSH-RC, stated that the Health and Wellbeing Symposium would target the community in general and healthcare providers. He added that the Symposium would be held in cooperation with the European Lifestyle Medicine Organization. As many as 24 international and local speakers would participate in the Symposium during which 36 scientific papers would be presented for the purpose of defining the model lifestyle and increasing health awareness on the impacts of lifestyle-related diseases on the individual’s life and productivity, such as diabetes, obesity, fatigue, stress, nutrition  and exercise medicine, he stated.

Dr. Alomran noted that the Symposium is of an added importance since it hosts well-seasoned experts in this domain, such as Prof. Hans Diehl of Loma Linda University, USA, a specialist in preventive medicine, and having more than 100 research papers in this field and numerous books published in many languages. The Symposium, Dr. Alomran went on, would be addressed by Dr. Chris Moulton of Bolton Hospital, UK, an expert in the field of mitigating the harm of works with physical and psychological impacts. According to Dr. Alomran, the Symposium would also be addressed by Mr. Max Strom, an instructor and advisor in the field of sustainability /survival and improvement of work quality and an author of many books in this field. Moreover, participants in the Symposium would include Prof. Adrian Kennedy, a lecturer at Harvard University, USA, holding a patent and copyright for the Employee Health Scan/Assessment System; and Dr. Michael Roizen from the Cleveland Clinic, USA, and Chairman of the Wellness Institute.

The Head of the Organizing Committee further elaborated that the entire research papers presented during the Symposium and the workshops would focus on stress and stress management, improvement of Public Sector and Health Sector staff productivity, and enhancement of the work environment. In addition, lights would be shed on qualitative topics leading to a healthier lifestyle, Dr. ALOMRAN said. In this respect, he cited such topics as sleep hygiene (enhancing the sleep), exercise at work, and changing the methods of thinking for the improvement of performance and productivity. He added that there would be lectures titled as follows: Exercise is Your Medicine; Difference of Viewpoints at Work; Mindfulness, Mental Absence and Bodily/Physical Presence in the Workplace; and Methods of Inspiring Employees for a Better Performance.

It is noteworthy that KFSH&RC has launched an online public health awareness campaign including a variety of health messages and educational videos to bolster health via the health education twitter account KFSHRC-HE in addition to the hashtag “Your Health is Your Wealth Symposium”.       

During the inaugural ceremony, His Excellency the Minister of Health honored the speakers and participants in the Symposium.